1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a sequentially joined-segment coil of a rotary electric machine and a production method thereof.
2. Background Art
Sequentially joined-segment stator coils have been proposed which are made by sequentially join ends of conductor segments inserted in slots in a stator core. For instance, Japanese Patent Nos. 3118837 and 3196738, assigned to the same assignee as that of this application, disclose a production method of joining U-shaped conductor segments in sequence to make a stator coil.
The sequentially joined segment stator coil, as taught in the above patents, is made by inserting a pair of legs of each conductor segment into two of slots of a core located at an interval away from each other which is substantially equivalent to a magnetic pole pitch of a rotor, bending end portions of the legs projecting from the slots in a circumferential direction of the core, and joining the end portions of the conductor segments in series.
The conductor segments each consist of a U or V-shaped head (also called a turn), a pair of side conductor portions extending from the head to be inserted into two of the slots of the core from an axial direction of the core, and end portions which project from the side conductor portions toward the other side of the slots and extend in the circumferential direction of the core. The projecting end portions are joined in pair. In the following discussion, the side conductor portion and the projecting end portion will also be referred to as a leg as a whole, the heads of the conductor segments will also be referred to as a segment head-side coil end of the stator coil, and the projecting end portions will also be referred to as a segment end-side coil end of the stator coil.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-92766 discloses a sequentially joined-segment stator coil in which six side conductor portions of conductor segments are aligned in a radius direction of the core and inserted into one of the slots of the core. In the segment head-side coil end, the head leading to an innermost one (i.e., the first one) of the six side conductor portions inserted into one of the slots and an outermost one of the six side conductor portions inserted into another slot are the largest outer heads, the head leading to the second and fifth ones of the side conductor portions extending inside the first and sixth ones forms a central head, and the head leading to innermost two (i.e., the third and fourth ones) of the side conductor portions extending inside the second and fifth ones forms an inner head.
The above sequentially joined-segment stator coil is produced in the following steps. First, a required number of pine needle-like conductor segments are prepared. Each of the conductor segments is formed into a U-shape one with side conductor portions extending at a magnetic pole pitch interval away from each other. The side conductor portions of each conductor segment are placed in alignment with two of the slots formed in the core, respectively, (i.e., in a circumferential direction of the core) for simultaneous insertion of the side conductor portions into the slots. These steps may be achieved with a pair of coaxially arrayed rings with slots, as illustrated in FIG. 3 of Japanese Patent No. 3118837. Specifically, legs of each conductor segment are fitted in two of the slots aligned in a radius direction of the rings. Next, the rings are turned relative to each other through a given angle equivalent to a magnetic pole pitch to spread the legs, thereby forming the U-shaped conductor segment. Subsequently, the head of each of the U-shaped conductor segments is held. The legs are drawn from the slots and then inserted into the slots of the core.
Next, end portions of the legs projecting from the slots are bent in the circumferential direction of the core by half a magnetic pole pitch. Such bending may be achieved with a plurality of coaxially arrayed rings with slots, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 of Japanese Patent No. 03196738. Specifically, tips of the projecting end portions of the legs are inserted into the slots of the rings. The rings are rotated in the circumferential direction by half a magnetic pole pitch (i.e., an electrical angle of π/2) to bent the projecting end portions in the circumferential direction through half the magnetic pole pitch. It is advisable that the rotation of the rings be performed while urging the rings toward the projecting end portions (i.e., the axial direction of the core) for increasing the radius of curvature of the turn of each conductor segment. Next, the projecting end portions are welded in a given sequence, thereby forming an endless phase coil. Any one of the heads of the U-shaped conductor segments is cut to define coil terminals. If the coil terminals are made longer and bent in the circumferential direction, they may be employed as a neutral point connecting line. The reason that the coil terminals are provided in the segment head-side coil end is because if the coil terminals are provided in the segment end-side coil end, they will interface with welding of the end portions of the conductor segments.
The above sequentially joined-segment stator coil, however, encounters the drawback in that the three heads or turns of the conductor segments disposed in each slot of the core are laid to overlap each other in the axial direction (i.e., a thickness-wise direction) of the core, thus resulting in an increase in length of the coil end (i.e., the projecting end portions of the conductor segments), which leads to an increased total length of a rotary electric machine.
Additionally, the largest outer heads of the conductor segments lead to the outermost side conductor portions and the innermost side conductor portions in the slots, thus requiring a longer length of the segment head-side coil end, which results in increases in coil resistance leading to a coil loss and in ventilating resistance of the coil ends leading to a reduction in cooling capability.